Programmable vehicle monitoring and security system having multiple access verification devices

ABSTRACT

A security system having two-way communication with a central monitoring station. The security system is equipped with a computerized control and communications unit. The control and communications unit is connected to a position determination device and to a calling unit. The control and communications unit is also connected to several intrusion detection devices. Upon direction of the control and communications unit, for example, in response to the detection of a violation of an intrusion detection device, the calling unit establishes a communications link with the central monitoring station and communicates thereto the status and location of the vehicle in which the security system is located. The control and communication device is operable to receive commands from a handset electrically connected thereto. The central monitoring station, by communicating with the control and communications unit, is operable to control functional units of the vehicle. The central monitoring station includes a display on which maps showing the location of vehicles in communication with the monitoring station and information about such vehicles. An operator at the monitoring station may direct equipment in the monitoring station to initiate calls to law enforcement organizations and emergency response vehicles. Other systems and methods are disclosed.

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.08/473,109, filed Jun. 7, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,133 which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/153,140, filed Nov. 16,1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,254.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to vehicle location and alarm systems, andmore particularly to a system for determining the location, speed anddirection of a vehicle, if moving, and a means for monitoring a set ofvehicle intrusion sensors to determine if a violation has occurred. Thesystem utilizes bi-directional cellular telephone network communicationto signal a remote central monitoring station which can issue signalcommands to the vehicle capable of affecting various functions ormechanisms in order to immobilize the vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART

In 1991 approximately 1.8 million vehicles were stolen in the UnitedStates, about one vehicle every 20 seconds. Car theft costs at least$8.3 billion yearly and accounts for almost half of the total propertylost to crime each year. Additionally, approximately $1.0 billion isspent annually in local law enforcement efforts to address car theftsand related crimes.

While improvements to vehicle security systems, such as car alarms andignition and steering wheel locks, have made auto theft more difficultto amateur auto thieves, such devices are of little significance to theprofessional auto thief. The chance of apprehension, conviction, andimprisonment of an auto thief is less than one percent.

One drawback to the improvement of conventional alarm systems and otheranti theft technology is that the mode of auto theft has changed. Withincreasing frequency auto thieves steal cars by conmmandeering the carfrom the owner at gun point--carjacking. While carjacking still accountsfor a relatively small fraction of all car thefts, its violent nature,occasionally involving the murder of the owner of the vehicle, and itsincreasing frequency, as many as 60 carjackings per day, makes it acrime which is very worrisome to most motorists.

Conventional security devices such as alarm systems are plagued bynumerous drawbacks. First, most professional car thieves are notdeterred by or are able to circumvent the alarm system. Second,conventional alarm systems are usually ignored by the public at large.Most casual passersby ignore the sound of a car alarm as being theshriek of the proverbial boy who cries wolf. Third, car alarms provideno means for tracking a stolen vehicle, and, thus, do not aid in therecovery of the vehicle. Fourth, car alarms do not aid the victim of acarjacking. Most carjackers will not approach a vehicle until the ownerof the car has disarmed the alarm system, and a person with a weaponheld to his/her head is very unlikely to turn on an alarm for the fearof aggravating the robber to the point of taking some violent action.

To address certain of these deficiencies in car alarm systems, inparticular the lack of tracking ability, systems have been developedwhich enable law enforcement personnel to locate stolen vehicles.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,844 to Mansell et al. teaches a vehicle trackingsystem in which the global positioning system (GPS) is used to determinethe location of vehicles. The vehicles are further equipped withcellular telephone equipment for continuously tracking the vehicles in afleet. Mansell provides for a separate keypad for entering commands tobe sent to a control center.

These system suffer from the deficiencies that a separate keypad isnecessary for communication with the security system. Furtherdeficiencies include the lack of programmability and the inability toprovide for a separate voice mode in which the identity of an occupantof the vehicle can be verified through spoken words. Prior art systemsfurther do not provide for visual identification of the occupant of avehicle.

It is therefore desirable to provide a system which provides for asecurity system which prevents theft and carjacking of vehicles, assistsin the recovery of stolen vehicles, and which overcomes the deficienciesin the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a security system for protecting avehicle from theft and from car jacking.

Generally described, the present invention provides a security systeminstalled in a vehicle which is in telecommunication with a centralmonitoring station to communicate alarm conditions to the centralmonitoring station, and to receive directives from the centralmonitoring station.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a system inwhich a vehicle is equipped with a plurality of intrusion detectiondevices which are operable to detect violation of a protection zone, andoperable to output signals to indicate a violation of the protectionzone. A calling device, such as a cellular telephone, operable toestablish a communication link to said central monitoring station isconnected to the intrusion detection devices via a computerized controland communications unit. The computerized control and communicationsunit, responsive to signals from the intrusion detection devices, causesthe calling unit to establish a communication link to the centralmonitoring station. The vehicle is further equipped with a positiondetermination device, e.g. a GPS receiver, connected to the control andcommunications unit and operable to determine position information ofthe vehicle.

The vehicle is further equipped with devices to determine the identityof occupants of the vehicle. In one embodiment the identification isobtained via a keypad on a cellular telephone handset, in anotherembodiment the identification is obtained using voice recognition, andin a third embodiment a video image is obtained of the driver of thevehicle and this video image is compared to archived images ofauthorized users of the vehicle. The vehicle is further equipped toreceive and to process control signals from the central monitoringstation. These signals may, for example, shut down the ignition of thevehicle or cause the head lights of the vehicle to flash.

It is an object of the invention to provide a security system forvehicles in which a communications link is established between one ormore vehicles and a central monitoring station.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a security system inwhich a positioning device is used to determine the location of thevehicle.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide a security systemin which intrusions trigger alarm situations which are communicatedalong with the location of the vehicle to a central monitoring station.

It is further an object of the invention to provide an automotivesecurity system with a pager so that a central monitoring station canrequest the security system to call the central monitoring station andreport the location of the vehicle.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide an automotivesecurity system having a cellular telephone handset which may be usedboth for verbal communication to other telephones and for entering keyedand verbal commands to the security system.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an automotivesecurity system in which features, such as the arming and disarming ofparticular intrusion detection zones, the automatic arming of thesystem, the range in which the vehicle may travel, may be programmedthrough the handset of a calling device connected to the securitysystem.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a security system inwhich a central monitoring station may take control of certain vehiclefunctions.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent upon reading the following detailed description ofembodiments of the invention, when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated in the drawings in which like referencecharacters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a landscape in which a centralmonitoring station according to the present invention is located and inwhich several vehicles equipped with the security system according tothe present invention are traveling.

FIG. 2 is perspective view of a vehicle having a security systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the security system according to thepresent invention.

FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are block diagrams of the internal components of thecontrol and communications unit of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the internalcomponents of the control and communications unit of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the equipment in the central monitoringstation.

FIG. 7 is a state transition diagram showing the interaction between thesecurity system of a vehicle and a central monitoring station accordingto the present invention.

FIGS. 8(a) through 8(i) illustrate the user interface of the centralmonitoring station of FIG. 6.

FIGS. 9(a) through 9(c) are flow diagrams showing the operation of thecentral monitoring station of FIG. 6.

FIGS. 10(a) through FIG. 10(o) are flow charts of the operation of theequipment of the mobile units of the security system according to thepresent invention.

FIGS. 11(a) through 11(c) illustrate a handset of the security systemduring programming mode.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a landscape in which a centralmonitoring station according to the present invention is located and inwhich several vehicles equipped with the security system according tothe present invention are traveling. FIG. 1 shows a geographical area101. A central monitoring station 103 is located in the geographicalarea 101. Two vehicles 105 and 107 are also located in and are travelingin the geographical area 101. There is no limit on the number ofvehicles which may be protected by the a security system constructed asdescribed herein. Similarly, multiple central monitoring stations, forexample, each serving a different geographic area, is also within thescope of the present invention.

Orbiting the earth somewhere above the geographical area 101 are amultitude of global positioning satellites, two of which are shown inFIG. 1 as satellites 109 and 111. The Global Positioning System (GPS) isa U.S. Department of Defense developed system consisting of aconstellation of 24 satellites. Each satellite constantly broadcastsprecise timing and location signals. A GPS receiver is able to determinethe distance between itself and a transmitting satellite by knowing thelocation of the satellite and determining the elapsed time between thetransmission and the receipt of the signal. By receiving signals fromseveral satellites simultaneously, a receiver can pin-point its locationwith an accuracy of 20 to 100 meters.

Each vehicle, e.g., vehicle 107 or vehicle 109, that utilizes thesecurity system according to the preferred embodiment, has a GPSreceiver and other circuitry (discussed below in conjunction with FIGS.2-9) to receive GPS transmissions from several satellitessimultaneously. By analyzing the signals from several satellites, theon-vehicle circuitry is able to calculate the location of the vehicle107 and 109.

Each vehicle 107 and 109 is further equipped with cellular telephonetransceivers (discussed below in conjunction with FIGS. 2 through 5, 10,and 11). The cellular telephone transceivers transmit location data,using the cellular telephone system, to the central monitoring station103 (discussed in detail below in conjunction with FIGS. 6 through 9).

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a vehicle having a security systemaccording to the present invention. A vehicle 200, for example anautomobile, is equipped with a security system. The security systemincludes a control and communications unit 201 connected to a number ofintrusion detection devices, for example, a pin switch 203 located todetect when the trunk is opened, a pin switch 205 located to detect whena door is opened, a pin switch 207 located to detect when the hood isopened, a motion detection device 209 which is operable to detect anymotion of the vehicle 200.

The control and communications unit 201 upon receiving a signal from anyof the intrusion detection devices may act as a car alarm system andsound a siren, e.g., a horn 231.

The vehicle 200 is further equipped with a GPS receiver unit (internalto the control and communications unit 201) which is connected to a GPSantenna 220. The GPS receiver unit is a multi-channel GPS receiver andcan thus receive time and location signals from multiple GPS satellitessimultaneously.

The vehicle 200 is further equipped to transmit and receive voice anddata over a cellular telephone system. In an alternative embodiment thevehicle 200 is additionally equipped to transmit images over a cellulartelephone system. Generally, vehicle 200 is equipped with circuitryoperable to transmit the location of the vehicle as well as securitycodes, panic codes and voice to the central monitoring station 103.

To be able to receive and transmit voice and data over the cellulartelephone network, the vehicle 200 is equipped with a cellulartransceiver 213 that is connected to the control and communications unit201. The control and communications unit 201 is further attached to acellular telephone handset 211. The cellular telephone handset 211includes a keypad 211b with which the operator of the vehicle 200 canenter commands and codes to the control and communications unit 201.

The cellular telephone transceiver 213 is connected to a cellulartelephone antenna 215 via an antenna selection relay 216. During thetheft of a vehicle, it is not uncommon that the thief attempts to removethe cellular telephone equipment, including any antennas. Therefore, abackup cellular antenna 217 is also attached to the antenna selectionrelay 216. If the cellular telephone antenna 215 is removed from thevehicle 200, the antenna selection relay is operable to make aconnection between the backup cellular antenna 217 and the control andcommunications unit 201.

The control and communications unit 201 and the backup cellular antenna217 are preferably located somewhere in the vehicle 200 where they areinaccessible to a thief, for example, underneath a floor board or in thetrunk of the vehicle 200.

The cellular telephone transceiver 213 is capable of receiving commandstransmitted from the central monitoring station 103. In the event thatthe driver of the vehicle 200 fails to disarm the system or if thedriver enters a panic code, the operator at the central monitoringstation 103 may control certain aspects of the operation of the vehicle200. The operator of the central monitoring station 103 takes control ofthe vehicle by transmitting control codes via the cellular telephonesystem to the vehicle 200. These control codes are received by thecellular telephone transceiver unit 213 and processed by the control andcommunications unit 201. The control and communications unit 201 isprogrammed (as described in conjunction with FIGS. 10(a) through 10(o))to accept these commands from the transceiver 213, parse the commands,and upon recognition of certain commands, control certain operationalfunctions of the vehicle 200. Examples of such control functions are:locking and unlocking the power locks, turning off the ignition, openingand closing the power windows, sounding the horn, flashing the headlights, flashing the interior lights, turning off the fuel line.

To control these functions, the control and communications unit 201 isconnected to certain relays. For example, the control and communicationsunit 201 is connected to the light relay 225. The light relay 225 isconnected to the head lights 227, 227', 227", and 227'". By turning offthe current to the relay 225 the control and communications unit canflash (or otherwise control) the headlights 227' through 227'".Similarly, the control and communications unit 201 is connected to ahorn relay 229. The horn relay 229 controls the horn 231. The horn 231may be either the horn normally installed in the vehicle 200 or may bean auxiliary horn used primarily for alarm purposes.

The control and communications unit 201 is also attached to an ignitionmodule 221. The ignition module 221 is, for example, an electronicignition module. The control and communications unit 201, by turning onor off a current to the ignition module 221 controls the operation ofthe engine of the vehicle 200.

As an alternative means for disabling the vehicle 200, the control andcommunications unit 201 is connected to a fuel line control valve 223.The fuel line control valve 223 is connected on the fuel line (notshown) between the fuel tank (not shown) and the engine (not shown). Thefuel line control valve 223 is an electrically controllable valve. Byturning on or off the current to the valve 223, it is either shut oropened, thereby controlling the fuel supply to the engine.

The vehicle 200 is further equipped to identify any of its occupants. Ina first embodiment, the keypad 211b is used by the occupant to entercommands and codes. For example, if the security system is armed and thedoor pin switch 205 detects that a door has been opened, the control andcommunications unit changes modes into an AUDIT mode (the differentmodes of operation of the security system according to the preferredembodiment are discussed further below). During AUDIT mode the operatorof the vehicle is allowed a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 30seconds) during which to disarm the system. Disarming is accomplished byentering a code on the keypad 211b.

In an alternative embodiment, disarming codes are entered by speakingverbal codes to the cellular telephone handset 211. These verbal codesare transmitted from the handset 211 to a voice recognition circuit(discussed further in conjunction with FIG. 4). The voice recognitioncircuit is operable to distinguish the voice of authorized operators ofthe vehicle 200.

In a third alternative embodiment, the vehicle 200 is equipped with acamera 233. The camera 233 is for example a charge-coupled device (3D)camera. The camera 233 is positioned such that it obtains an image ofthe driver of the vehicle 200. The camera 233 is connected to thecontrol and communications unit 201 so that an image from the camera 233may be processed by the control and communications unit 201 andtransmitted via the cellular telephone system to the central monitoringstation 103. At the central monitoring station a determination is madeas to whether the driver of the vehicle 200 is an authorized driver. Forexample, the image is displayed on a graphics display 605 at the centralmonitoring station 103 (the equipment of the central monitoring stationis discussed in conjunction with FIG. 6) and an operator views the imageand compares it to images in a database 607. Alternatively, patternrecognition algorithms are used to verify that the driver of the vehicle200 is an authorized driver.

The vehicle 200 is further equipped with a pager receiver 245 connectedto the control and communications unit 201. The pager receiver 245 isoperable to receive a page from the central monitoring station 103. Thepager receiver 245 of each vehicle 200 is operable to be paged on thesame telephone number. In a data stream following the page, anidentifying code is transmitted. The identifying code is uniquelyassociated with each vehicle 200. Thus, while all vehicles 200, whichare within reach of the page, receive the page, the unique identifyingcode allows each vehicle 200 to discern whether the page is intended foritself or for another vehicle and to only respond to commands address toitself.

On the data stream following the identifying code, a command istransmitted through the pager receiver 245 to the control andcommunications unit 201. Commands include "call central monitoringstation", "arm security system", "disarm security system", "lock doors","unlock doors".

The vehicle 200 may also be equipped with an RF receiver 253 connectedto the control and communications unit 201. The RF receiver 253 isoperable to receive a signal transmitted from a hand held palm-sizedtransmitter for example attached to a person's key chain. Thetransmitted signal causes the control and communications unit 201 toeither arm or disarm the alarm system and to lock or unlock thevehicle's 200 doors.

The control and communications unit 201 is further connected to a buzzer255. The buzzer 255 is sounded to indicate an AUDIT state or an ALARMINGstate.

The control and communications unit 201 and its associated peripheraldevices, e.g., transceiver unit 213, are powered by the vehicle'sbattery 234. To provide backup power, for example in the event a thiefremoves the vehicle's battery 234, a backup battery 238 is alsoconnected to the control and communications unit 201. The voltage levelsof both the vehicle battery 234 and the backup battery 238 are monitoredby the control and communications unit 201. A low voltage on eitherbattery causes an appropriate warning message to be displayed on thehandset display 211a.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the security system according to thepresent invention. A security system 300 consists of the control andcommunications unit 201 that is connected to the cellular telephonetransceiver 213, the cellular telephone antenna 215, the cellulartelephone backup antenna 217, and the GPS antenna 220. Furthermore, thecontrol and communications unit 201 is connected to the cellulartelephone handset 211 either directly or via a cradle 235 (as shown inFIG. 2). An RJ45 cable 241 forms the connection between the control andcommunications unit 201 and the cellular telephone handset 211.

The control and communications unit 201 receives input signals fromvarious intrusion detection devices (as shown in FIG. 2). These signalsare transmitted to the control and communications unit 201 on an inputbus 237 that is connected to the control and communications unit 201.The control and communications unit 201 outputs signals to severalcontrol devices (as shown in FIG. 2). The output signals are placed bythe control and communications unit 201 onto an output bus 239 that isconnected to the control and communications unit 201.

The cellular telephone transceiver unit 213 is connected to the controland communications unit 201 via a RJ45 conductor 243.

The control and communications unit 201 has a connector 247 forconnecting a portable computer 249 to the control and communicationsunit 201. The connector 247 is for example a RS232 connector. Theportable computer 249 is equipped with a connector 251 with which theportable computer 249 is attached to the control and communications unit201.

FIG. 4(a) is a block diagram of the internal components of the controland communications unit 201 of the present invention. The control andcommunications unit 201 consists of a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 401.The CPU 401 is, for example, a Hitachi HD7180 CPU. The CPU 401 isconnected to an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) 403 and arandom access memory (RAM) 405. The CPU 401 is further connected to amodem 407. The modem 407 is connected via a switching network 417 to thecellular telephone transceiver unit 213 for sending and receiving datato the central monitoring station 103. The handset 211 is also connectedto the switching network 417 and to the CPU 401. The CPU 401 controlsthe switching network 417 so as to enable and disable communicationbetween the handset 211 and transceiver unit 213. Communication betweenthe handset 211 and the transceiver unit 213 is referred to herein as"normal communication mode". During normal communication mode the CPU401 monitors the communication between the handset 211 and thetransceiver unit 213 to determine whether the user of the handset 211has entered a command for the control and communications unit 201 orwhether the central monitoring station has sent a command to the vehicle200. Commands for the control and communications unit 201 are entered onthe keypad 211b of the handset 211. Any commands sent to the control andcommunications unit 201 are acknowledged by the control andcommunications unit 201 by sending display codes to the display 211a ofthe handset 211.

The switching network 417, upon control from the CPU 401, is furtheroperable to disable communication between the handset 211 and thetransceiver unit 213 and enable communication between the CPU 211 andthe transceiver unit 213 via modem 407. This mode of operation isreferred to herein as "alarm communication mode". During alarmcommunication mode all communication to and from the handset 211 iscompletely disabled.

The switching network 417, upon control from the CPU 401, is furtheroperable to disable all communication to the transceiver unit 213 andenable communication between the handset 211 and the CPU 401. This modeof operation is referred to as "programming communication mode".Programming communication mode is used during system installation toenter user programmable features into the EPROM 403, or afterinstallation to alter user programmable features. Programmable featuresof the security system 300 are discussed below.

The CPU 401 is further connected to a series of input-output driverswhich are collectively labeled as element 409. The input-output drivers409 are connected to the input bus 237 to receive signals from thevarious intrusion detection devices, e.g., the pin switches 203, 205,and 207, and the motion detector 209. The input-output drivers 409 arefurther connected to the output bus 239 for transmitting control signalsto various control units, e.g., the relays 225 and 229, and ignitionmodule 221. Control of the various relays are by means of one or morerelay drivers (not shown). Automotive relays are typically controlled bya voltage of 12 volts. However, computer applications, such as thecontrol and communications unit 201, typically use a voltage of 5.5volts to signify a logic high. A logic high at 5.5 volts may be used tocontrol a relay sensitive to 12 volts by providing the 5.5 volt signalto a relay driver which in turn produces the required 12 volt signal.

The CPU 401 is further connected to the GPS receiver 219. The CPU 401polls the GPS receiver 219 to receive position data. The GPS receiver219 is connected to the GPS antenna 220.

The portable computer 249 is optionally connected to a serial connector247.

The camera 233 is connected to a digitizer 413 which is connected to theCPU 401. The digitizer 413 obtains video signals from the camera 233 andconverts these signals from analog form to a digital representation,which may be processed by the CPU 401. The digitized signals aretransmitted to the CPU 401 from the digitizer 413. The digitized signalsfrom the digitizer 413 may be compressed by the CPU 401. The digitizedsignals are transmitted from the CPU 401 to the central monitoringstation 103 via the modem 407 and the cellular transceiver unit 213.

The microphone 211c of the cellular telephone handset 211 is connectedto an analog-to-digital (AD) converter 415 via the switching network417. The AD converter 415 converts voice input spoken into themicrophone 211c from analog form into a digital representation which canbe processed by the CPU 401. The digitized representation of the voiceis transmitted to the CPU 401 from the AD converter 415.

FIG. 4(b) illustrates an alternative embodiment for the connection ofmicrophone 211 to CPU 401. In the alternative embodiment of FIG. 4(b), adigital signal processor (DSP) 421 is connected between the CPU 401 andthe analog-to-digital converter 415. The DSP 421 is used to executevoice recognition algorithms to compare a spoken password to a storedpassword. For purposes of clarity, additional elements from FIG. 4(a)are not repeated in FIG. 4(b).

Returning to FIG. 4(a), the CPU 401 is protected from being caught in aninfinite loop by being connected to a watchdog timer (WDT) 419. Thewatchdog timer 419 is connected to the reset pin of the CPU 401. Unlessthe watchdog timer 419 is toggled within a specified time period, thewatchdog timer 419 sends a reset signal to the reset pin of the CPU andthereby causes the CPU 401 to reset.

The CPU 401 is also connected to the buzzer 255. By toggling a value ona control line between the CPU 401 and the buzzer 255, the buzzer iseither sounded or silent.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of a control andcommunications unit 201' according to the present invention. The controland communications unit 201' contains a CPU 401' which is connected to aEPROM 403' and a RAM 405'. The functions of the EPROM 403' and the RAM405' are similar to the functions of the EPROM 403 and the RAM 405 shownin FIG. 4.

The CPU 401' is connected to a micro controller communications bus 501.The micro controller communications bus 501 provides for datacommunication between the CPU 401' and several micro controllers 503,505, and 507. Each micro controller 503, 505, 507 is responsible for theinput or control of external devices. To receive input for or to controlan external device, the CPU 401' places an instruction and an addressonto the micro controller communications bus 501. The address is latchedinto a latch 509 that is also connected to micro controllers 503, 505,and 507. Each of the micro controllers 503, 505, and 507 decodes theaddress stored in the latch 509. The address is indicative of with whichof the micro controllers 503, 505, and 507 the CPU 401' seekscommunication. Thus, when one of the micro controllers 503, 505, or 507detects that the address stored in the latch 509 corresponds to itself,that micro controller 503, 505, or 507 accepts the data on the microcontroller communications bus 501 and processes that data as a commandor other data.

Micro controller 503 is an analog-to-digital (A/D) micro controller. TheA/D micro controller 503 is connected via an I/O connector 511 to thevehicle battery 234 and to the backup battery 238. The A/D microcontroller 503 is further connected to an RF link 532, which in turn isconnected via an RJ11 connector 531 to a pager micro controller 533 anda RF micro controller 535. The pager micro controller 533 is connectedto the pager receiver 245 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 3) and the RF receiver253 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 3). The A/D micro controller 503 continuouslymonitors the vehicle battery 234, the backup battery 238, the RFreceiver 253, and the pager receiver 245. The CPU 401' periodicallypolls the A/D micro controller 503 to determine if input has beenreceived from the RF receiver 253, the pager receiver 245, or todetermine whether the voltage level of either battery 234 or the backupbattery 238 has dropped below a permissible level.

Micro controller 505 is an input and control micro controller. The inputand control micro controller 505 is connected to the I/O connector 511to receive inputs from various intrusion detection devices, e.g., thepin switches 203, 205, 207, and the motion detector 209.

The micro controller 505 is further connected to two relay drivers 513aand 513b. The relay drivers 513a and 513b are connected via theinput/output connector 511 to relays for controlling various operationsof the vehicle 200, e.g., light relay 225 (thereby controlling flashingof the lights 227, 227', 227", and 227'"), horn relay 229, and fuel linevalve 223. The relay drivers 513a and 513b are connected to the variousrelays through the input/output connector 511.

Whereas automotive relays are typically controlled with 12 volts, logichigh in computer applications, such as the control and communicationsunit 201, is typically approximately 5.5 volts. The role of the relaydrivers 513a and 513b is to provide a 12 volt signal upon a logic highoutput from the input and control micro controller 505. The input andcontrol micro controller 505 raises the control signal to logic high oncommand from the CPU 401'. Using two relay drivers is illustrative; aperson skilled in the art that one or more relay drivers may be used todrive the relays.

The micro controller 505 is further connected via the input/outputconnector 511 to any digitally controllable switches, e.g., theelectronic ignition module 221.

The CPU 401' is connected to the GPS receiver 219 which in turn isconnected via a GPS antenna connector 529 to the GPS antenna 220.

Cellular telephone communications is plagued with a lack of a standardfor the communications protocol between handsets and transceiver units.The control and communications unit 201 of the present invention is ableto communicate with a cellular telephone handset 211 and transceiverunit 213 of any manufacture by having an interchangeable handsetspecific module 515. The interchangeable module 515 is connected to themicro controller bus 501 through a connector 517. The connector 517 maybe a card edge connector and the interchangeable module 515 mayphysically resemble a Single Inline Memory Module (SIMM).

Micro controller 507 is a phone micro controller and is located theinterchangeable module 515. The phone micro controller 515 is connectedto an EPROM 521. The EPROM 521 is for example an electrically erasableread only memory (EEPROM). The EPROM 521 is programmed, when the controland communications unit 201 is installed into the vehicle 200, withinformation which is unique to the owner of the vehicle 200 and theparticular cellular telephone transceiver 213 and handset 211.Programmable features of the control and communications unit 201 arediscussed below.

For each protocol of cellular telephone handset and transceiver unitcommunication there is a specific interchangeable module 515. Byexchanging the interchangeable module 515, a cellular telephone handsetand transceiver of different manufacture may be connected to the controland communications unit 201. Thus, the architecture of the control andcommunications unit 201 is independent of the communications protocolused by the telephone handset and transceiver unit connected thereto.

The interchangeable module 515 is further connected to a transceiverunit RJ45 connector 523 and to a handset RJ45 connector 525.

The control and communications unit 201 further contains a modem 407'.Modem 407' performs the same functions as modem 407 of FIG. 4. The modemis connected to the interchangeable module 515 through the connector517.

The interchangeable module 515 further contains a switching network 417'which is connected, via the connector 517 to the transceiver unit RJ45connector 523, the handset RJ45 connector 525 and the modem 407', and,via a communications bus 527, to the phone micro controller 507. Thetransceiver unit 213 is connected to the transceiver unit RJ45 connector523 and the handset 211 is connected to the handset RJ45 connector 525.The RJ45 connectors 523 and 525 are connected to connector 517, and,thus, communicate with the interchangeable module 515. The switchingnetwork 417' operates similarly to the switching network 417 of FIG. 4.A difference between switching network 417' and switching network 417 isthat the CPU 401' controls of the switching network 417' by sendingcommands to the phone micro controller 507.

As an alternative to GPS positioning FM triangulation may be used. Insuch an embodiment, reception of FM station identifying call letters arereceived on an FM sub-carrier signal from at least three FM stations.The call letters of the three FM signals and the direction of thestrongest reception for each FM station are transmitted to the centralmonitoring station 103. Using triangulation algorithms, the centralmonitoring station 103 is then able to calculate the position of thevehicle.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the equipment in the central monitoringstation 103. The core of the central monitoring station 103 is acomputer system 601. The computer system 601 may be any of a largevariety of general purpose computers, e.g., a multi-user UNIX system. Inan alternative embodiment the computer system may be a number ofnetworked single user computers, e.g., IBM PC compatible computers. Theoperations of the central monitoring station 103 is controlled bysoftware 617 loaded into the memory (not shown) of the computer system601.

One or more operator consoles 605 are attached to the computer system601. The operator consoles may be either terminals connected to thecomputer system 601 or computers in their own right, in which case, eachis connected in a client-server relationship to the computer system 601.

The computer system 601 is further connected to a database 607. Thedatabase 607 is typically stored on a hard disk and may be a relationaldatabase managed by a database management system such as SQL. Thedatabase 607 contains a variety of information about each vehiclemonitored by the central monitoring station 103.

The following is an exemplary list of information stored in the database607:

identifying key (e.g., a unique identifier for each vehicle)

Make, model and year model of the vehicle

license plate number

Color of the vehicle

Owner

Owner's Address and telephone numbers

Telephone number for the cellular telephone in the vehicle

Voice samples of the owner of the vehicle and other authorized users

Photographic image of the owner and other authorized users

Last known location, direction and speed of the vehicle.

Status, e.g., "Intrusion zone violated", "vehicle left designated area","vehicle

Special instructions: e.g., "on violation of an intrusion zoneimmediately disable the ignition" or "on violation of an intrusion zoneallow vehicle to operate for five minutes then disable the ignition anddisable the power door locks and power windows", "owner on vacation,vehicle should not leave airport parking lot for next two weeks".

The CPU 601 is connected to telephone network 603 via a modem 609. Viathe modem 609 the CPU 601 receives information pertinent to any vehiclewhich is in communication with the central monitoring station 103.

A voice telephone 611 is also connected to the telephone network 603. Anoperator of at the central monitoring station 103 uses the voicetelephone 611 to talk to the occupants of a vehicle 200 or to listen forany sounds from within a vehicle 200, e.g., conversation between itsvarious occupants. Such conversation may be indicative of a carjackingin progress or other criminal activities.

The computer system 601 is also connected to a voice unit 613 forartificially creating voice output from digitally stored text. Manyoperations of the central monitoring station may be fully automated, butrequire the interaction with human beings. For example, when thesecurity system 300 of a vehicle 200 has detected an unpermittedintrusion, the monitoring station 103 may automatically call theresidence of the owner of the vehicle. This call may be made by anautomated voice. Similarly, certain communication may be made with theoccupants of the vehicle over the cellular telephone system, e.g.,"Please identify yourself". These communications may also be partiallyautomated.

The operator console 605 contains a graphic user interface (GUI) display615. When a vehicle has contacted the central monitoring stationconcerning an alarm situation, a window containing database informationis displayed on the GUI display 615. Another window displays a streetmap of the vicinity of the current location of the vehicle. Mappingsoftware in the operator console 605 or in the computer system 601allows the operator to display street names on the map window and tozoom in and out of the map. Maps, e.g., vector maps are stored either inthe database 607 or on separate CD ROM 621. The maps may be based uponU.S. Census Bureau Tiger files.

The windowing environment of the GUI display 615 provides control ofsimultaneous calls from multiple vehicles. Upon the receipt of a callfrom a vehicle, the software 617 resident in the central monitoringstation 103 automatically initiates a handshake protocol with thecalling vehicle and automatically begins logging location, direction andspeed data into the database 607. The software 617 displays and tracksthe vehicle position in a map window on GUI display 615, logs theposition information to a backup file 619, and displays the databaseinformation on the vehicle 200.

The software 617 also provides the operator with the functionality tocontrol the vehicle 200. The operator controls the vehicle 200 bysending control messages to the security system 300 of the vehicle 200.

The software 617 has the following modes of operation which areselectable by an operator by way of a menu on the GUI display 615:

    ______________________________________                                        POSITIONING -                                                                              this is the default mode in which the                                         central monitoring station 103 tracks the                                     vehicle's position and allows command                                         messages to be sent to the unit.                                 LISTEN -     when this mode is selected, all MODEM                                         data is terminated and an operator at the                                     central monitoring station 103 may listen                                     to noises picked up by the microphone                                         211c of the cellular telephone handset 211.                      VOICE -      when this mode is selected, all MODEM                                         data is terminated and the operator may                                       speak with an occupant of the vehicle                                         using the cellular telephone handset 211.                        ______________________________________                                    

The software 617 provides the following functionality:

Zoom in or out on a map displayed on the GUI display 615 for betterresolution.

Display all surrounding street names automatically.

Display any chosen street name.

Display the current county and state.

Display detailed information about the vehicle and its owner from thedatabase 607.

Send control messages to the security system 300 of the vehicle tocontrol operation of the vehicle by switching relays, etc.

Read the position, direction, and speed of the vehicle.

Playback a log file (of past position, direction, and speed of thevehicle) at high speed.

Display the police jurisdiction in which the vehicle 200 is currentlylocated.

FIG. 7 is a state transition diagram showing the interaction betweensecurity system 300 and the central monitoring station 103 and thevarious states of the security system. The system starts in a power upstate, state 701. State 701 is described in greater detail below inconjunction with FIG. 10(a). An automatic transition is made to theUNARMED state 703. Two separate paths are possible from the UNARMEDstate 703, first, the automatic arming of the system on certainpredefined conditions, e.g., all doors closed and the ignition off for aspecified amount of time, and, second, the forced arming of the systemby the user entering a code on the handset keypad 211b or by voiceactivation, i.e., by speaking verbal commands through the handsetmicrophone 211c. Both of these transitions lead to the ARMED state 705.

There are two transitions possible from the ARMED state 705. First, anevent which leads the system into AUDIT mode, state 707. An example ofsuch an event is the opening of a door. In AUDIT mode the occupant ofthe vehicle has a specified amount of time to disarm the system. Failureto disarm the system within the specified time period causes an alarmcondition, exemplified in the diagram by a transition to the ALARM state709. If the system is disarmed within the specified audit period, atransition is mnade back to the UNARMED state 703.

An alarm condition can also occur directly from the ARMED state 705. Anyviolation of an intrusion zone which is not in the category that leadsthe system into AUDIT state 707 leads the system in the ALARM state 709.

From either the UNARMED state 703 or the ARMED state 705, the EMERGENCYstate 711 can be entered by the user entering an emergency code on thecellular telephone handset keypad 211b or by speaking a voice commandthrough the microphone 211c. The EMERGENCY state 711 has an automatictransition to the ALARM state 709, where "emergency" is one type ofalarm condition.

From the ALARM state 709 a call is made to the central monitoringstation to report the event, e.g., an emergency, an intrusion detectionzone violation, a carjacking, or an emergency vehicle request, actionstate 713. If the central monitoring station does not answer the call,state 713 is repeated. Once the central monitoring station 103 answersthe call, the security system 300 sends the current status (e.g.,EMERGENCY) and the vehicle's location (as determined by the GPS receiver219) to the central monitoring station 103, state 715. Next, the centralmonitoring station 103 receives the information sent in state 715, and,in turn, logs the status and location information, state 717.

Next, the central monitoring station 103 attempts to verify that theoccupant is an authorized user of the vehicle 200, state 719. Theverification process may be accomplished either by accepting a securitycode which the occupant of the vehicle 200 enters on the cellulartelephone handset 211b, by accepting voice input from the cellulartelephone microphone 211c, or by observing an image of the occupantobtained by the camera 233.

If the central monitoring station 103 verifies that the occupant of thevehicle 200 is an authorized occupant of the vehicle 200, the centralmonitoring station 103 causes the security system to disarm, state 721,and a transition is made to the UNARMED state, 703.

However, if from state 719 it is determined that the occupant is not anauthorized occupant of the vehicle 200, or if it is determined that acarjacking is in progress, then the central monitoring station 103 sendscontrol signals to the vehicle, state 723, and calls law enforcementofficials to inform them about the crime in progress and the location ofthe vehicle, state 725.

The central monitoring station then waits for the alarm situation to beresolved in some way, state 727, e.g., by the determination that a falsealarm occurred or by the successful recovery of the vehicle 200.

FIGS. 8(a) through 8(i) illustrate the interaction through the GUI 615of FIG. 6 in a exemplary session at the central monitoring station 101.FIG. 8(a) shows the central monitoring station awaiting a call from avehicle 200. The GUI 615 shows a main interaction window 801 and a"waiting" window 803. The GUI 615 further contains a menu bar 805containing menus by which the operator may select between variouscommands of the central monitoring station 103.

FIG. 8(b) shows the interaction after an alarm event in a vehicle 200.In particular, the GUI 615 communicates, to the operator the name andthe account number of the owner of the vehicle 200 that has a triggeredalarm, and information describing the vehicle. Furthermore, the GUI 615communicates the location of the vehicle 200 by showing a map with a dot805 indicating the position of the vehicle with respect to the map, andby displaying the name of the nearest street as well as the name of thestate and the county wherein the vehicle 200 is currently located. TheGUI 615 also displays to the user the current date and time, and thespeed and heading of the vehicle. Furthermore, the GUI 615 indicateswhat type of alarm condition has occurred and the telephone of theappropriate law enforcement agency.

FIG. 8(c) and 8(d) shows two different options of showing names ofstreets on the map of the GUI 615. In FIG. 8(c), the name of only onestreet is shown. However, the user has pulled down a menu with an optionfor displaying all street names. Selecting this option causes thedisplay of FIG. 8(d), in which all street names are shown.

FIG. 8(e) shows a customer information window displayed after theselection of the "Customer Info" menu. The customer information windowcontains information about the owner of the vehicle.

FIG. 8(f) shows an interaction in which the operator of the centralmonitoring station 103 has pulled down the "control car" menu. Throughthe control car menu the operator may cause the central monitoringstation 103 to send commands to the vehicle 200 to shut off theignition, to flash the lights, to unlock the doors, to lock the doors,to sound the alarm, or to acknowledge the alarm.

FIGS. 8(g) through 8(i) show the zooming in and zooming out feature ofthe central monitoring station GUI 615. In FIG. 8(g) the map windowdisplays a map of a geographic region that is 2 miles square, in FIG.8(h) the map is shown at a scale of 5 miles square, and in FIG. 8(i) themap is shown at a scale of 1 mile square.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of the operations of the software 617 in thecentral monitoring station 103. FIG. 9(a) shows the main program of thesoftware 617, which starts at entry point 900. The software 617 operateson an infinite loop basis alternatively checking for input from thevehicles monitored by the central monitoring station 103, step 901, andfrom operator at central monitoring 103, step 903. If an input has beenreceived from a vehicle 200, a call is made to aSERVICE-VEHICLE-COMMUNICATION procedure (described in conjunction withFIG. 9(b)), step 905. If an input is received from the operator, a callis made to a SERVICE-OPERATOR-COMMUNICATION procedure (described inconjunction with FIG. 9(c)), step 907.

If the user interface is currently executing in POSITIONING mode, setfrom the mode menu (see FIG. 8(b)), as determined by decision box 908,the vehicle's current position is displayed on the map on the GUI 615,step 910.

The main program of the central monitoring station software 617 is aninfinite loop. Thus, after any of steps 905, 907, 910, and the NO branchfrom decision box 908, control is returned to the beginning of theprogram, at decision box 901.

FIG. 9(b) is a flowchart showing the operation of theSERVICE-VEHICLE-COMMUNICATION procedure, entry point of which is 909.The first step of the procedure is to log the position of the vehicleinto a log file in the backup file 619, step 911. Next, theSERVICE-VEHICLE-COMMUNICATION procedure displays a map of the vicinityof the location of the vehicle, the location of the vehicle, ownerinformation, and vehicle data, onto the GUI 615, as shown in FIG. 8(b),step 915. Finally, the SERVICE-VEHICLE-COMMUNICATION procedure returnscontrol to the calling program, step 917.

FIG. 9(c) is a flowchart showing the operation of theSERVICE-OPERATOR-ACTION procedure which commences at entry point 919.The flow of control through the SERVICE-OPERATOR-ACTION procedure iscontrolled by a branch selection statement 921. The branch selectionstatement 921 selects a branch of the SERVICE-OPERATOR-ACTION procedurebased on what type of action the operator has selected. There is onebranch for each action and the branches shown in FIG. 9(c) should beconsidered as illustrative examples rather than as an exhaustive list.The first branch is the "mode change" branch 923, which in turn is abranch selection between the "positioning" branch 925, the "listening"branch 927, and the "voice" branch 929.

The first step of the "positioning" branch 925 is to enable a data linkbetween the central monitoring station 103 and the vehicle 200 which hascalled in an alarm, step 931. On start up the data link is enabled sothat an alarm condition can be communicated from the vehicle 200 to thecentral monitoring station 103. However, subsequent mode changes (intoVOICE or LISTEN modes) disable the data link. Next, the modem 609 ispolled for position data from the vehicle 200, step 933.

The first step of the "listen" branch 927 is to disable the data link,step 935. Next, the speaker of the telephone 611 is turned on so thatthe operator can listen to any sounds made inside the vehicle 200.

The first step of the "voice" branch 929 is to disable the data link,step 939. Next, both the speaker and the microphone of the telephone 611are turned on so that the operator can both speak and listen to thevehicle, step 941. When the operator has selected to display customerinfo, branch 943, the information about the owner of the vehicle isdisplayed in a GUI 615 window as shown in FIG. 8(e), step 945. One pieceof information displayed is the identification code associated with theowner of the vehicle. The operator of the central monitoring station 103may use the "voice" mode to verify that the occupant of the vehicle 200knows the password.

If the operator has selected the "position" menu item, branch 947, thelongitude and latitude of the vehicle's current position is displayed,as is shown in FIG. 8(g), step 949.

If the operator has selected to control some function of the car bypulling down the "control car" menu, branch 951, that menu is displayed,as shown in FIG. 8(f), and a selection is accepted, step 953 and theappropriate command is sent to the vehicle 200, step 955.

If the operator has selected to zoom in or out of the map, branch 957,the scale of the map is increased or decreased as requested, step 959.

If the operator has selected to page the security system 300 of aparticular vehicle 200, branch 967, the computer 601 causes the modem609 to dial a pager telephone number, step 969. All vehicles monitoredby the monitoring station 103 receive data on the same telephone number.Next, an identifying code, unique to the particular vehicle being paged,is transmitted via the telephone system, step 971. Every vehicle isassigned a unique code. Only the vehicle with a code matching the codetransmitted responds to the page. Following the transmission of thevehicle identifying code, a command is sent to the vehicle, step 973.

If the operator has selected to exit the program, branch 961, theprogram is shutdown, step 963.

For all branches other than the exit branch 961, after the execution ofall steps of the branch, control is returned to the calling program,965.

FIG. 10(a) through FIG. 10(o) are flow charts of the operation of theequipment of the vehicle portion of the security system 300 according tothe present invention. The software of the security system 300 isdescribed below in the context of the embodiment of the control andcommunications unit 201, shown in FIG. 4(a). The software is largelyidentical for the embodiment of the control and communications unit201', shown in FIG. 5. In the embodiment of the control andcommunications unit 201' certain portions of the software are stored inthe EPROM 521 of the interchangeable module 515 and, are executed by thephone microprocessor 507. Furthermore, the polling of external devicesand actual control of relays are executed by micro controllers 503 and505. Any deviations in the software for the embodiment of the controland communications unit 201' from the described software for the controland communications unit 201 are described below.

The software in the security system 300 is stored in the EPROM 403 andin the RAM 405. The software of the security system 300 controls thealarm system and certain operational functions of the vehicle.Furthermore, the software controls the communication with the centralmonitoring station 103.

The software of the security system supports unlimited user inputthrough the keypad 211b of the cellular telephone handset 211,acknowledges input and conditions on the handset display 211a, andautomatically communicates with the central monitoring station 103 inthe event of an intrusion zone violation.

The software of the security system has five internal modes ofoperation:

    ______________________________________                                        UNARMED -    When the security system 300 has been                                         placed in the UNARMED state by user                                           input on the handset, it ignores intrusion                                    zone violations. While in the UNARMED                                         state, the security system 300 attempts to                                    meet a set of predetermined conditions                                        which will allow it to automatically enter                                    the ARMED state (e.g., all doors closed                                       and ignition off for more than a preset                                       period of time (e.g., one minute)). The                                       ARMING state can also entered by user                                         input.                                                           ARMING -     The ARMING state is a transient state of                                      predetermined duration (e.g., 30 seconds)                                     used to signal the user that the security                                     system 300 is arming itself. The user can                                     abort the ARMING state and return to the                                      UNARMED state by input on the handset.                                        Unless the user aborts the ARMING state                                       the security system 300 enters the ARMED                                      state after the predetermined time period.                       ARMED -      When the security system 300 is in the                                        ARMED state the security system 300                                           actively monitors all preset alarm                                            conditions (e.g., violation of any intrusion                                  zone such as doors, windows, or motion                                        detection - such as movement of GPS                                           position) and continuously records the                                        vehicle's position in the RAM 405. When                                       an alarm occurs (except for an intrusion                                      zone violation which leads to the AUDIT                                       state - e.g., the opening of a door), a call is                               placed to the monitoring station 103 to                                       report the alarm.                                                AUDIT -      Certain intrusion zone violations (e.g.,                                      opening of a door) causes the security                                        system 300 to enter into the AUDIT mode.                                      The AUDIT mode permits the user a time                                        window of preset duration (e.g., 30                                           seconds) to disarm the security system                                        300. Disarm is accomplished by entering a                                     security code on the keypad 211b. In the                                      alternative embodiment having voice                                           recognition capabilities, the disarming of                                    the security system 300 is accomplished by                                    speaking the security code into the                                           microphone 211c. After the predetermined                                      time period has elapsed a call is placed to                                   the monitoring station 103 to report the                                      intrusion zone violation.                                        EMERGENCY -  At any time (i.e., regardless of which mode                                   the security system 300 is in) an occupant                                    of the vehicle can force the security system                                  300 into an EMERGENCY calling mode.                                           The EMERGENCY calling mode is                                                 entered by entering commands on the                                           keypad 211b of the cellular telephone                                         handset 211. In the EMERGENCY mode,                                           a call is made to the central monitoring                                      station 103 to report the emergency.                             ______________________________________                                    

The mode in which the security system 300 is operating is stored in adata location named ARMED state in the RAM 405.

The software of the security system 300 provides the followingfunctionality:

Allows user input through the keypad 211b and the microphone 211c of thehandset 211.

Acknowledges user input on the handset display 211a.

Supports the five modes of operation described above.

Accepts commands from the monitoring station 103 allowing the monitoringstation 103 to control relays controlling operational aspects of thevehicle 200 and allowing the monitoring station to display messages onthe display 211a of the cellular telephone handset 211.

Logs the status of the vehicle 200 is the RAM 405 so that lapses incommunication with the central monitoring station 103 do not cause theloss of the data.

If there is a break of communication between the vehicle 200 and thecentral monitoring station 103, the unit continually places calls untila communication link is reestablished.

Supports a voice mode, in which an operator at the central monitoringstation 103 can use the cellular telephone system to communicate withthe occupant of the vehicle 200 using the handset 211. During the voicemode, the modem communication is shut off and direct communication isestablished between the handset 211 and the transceiver unit 213.

Automatically arms the security system 300 when user specifiedconditions are met. The security system 300 supports two alarmtriggering modes: "normal" and "carjacking". In normal triggering mode,an alarm situation arises when an intrusion detection device istriggered while the ignition of the vehicle is turned off. In carjackingmode, an alarm situation occurs when an intrusion detection device istriggered while the ignition is on. If all intrusion protection devicesare closed and the ignition is turned off for a preprogrammed period oftime, the system 300 automatically arms itself into normal triggeringmode. On the other hand, if all intrusion protection devices are closedand the ignition is turned on for a preprogrammed period of time, thesystem 300 automatically arms itself into carjacking triggering mode.

Triggers an alarm based on GPS position. (e.g., the car has movedoutside a specified range).

Sends raw GPS data to a connection for a portable computer.

Supports a remote data link for commands (i.e., arm/disarm).

The remote data link allows the central monitoring station 103 to sendcommands to the vehicle via a paging network.

FIG. 10(a) is a flow chart of the start up procedure for the securitysystem software. The start up procedure is executed when the securitysystem 300 is powered up or when a RESET signal has been detected. RESETis a signal provided to a pin of the CPU 401.

The first step of the start up procedure, step 1001 is to determinewhether the start up was requested as a normal power up or due to a trapcondition. Trap conditions are due to some form of error occurrence.

If a trap condition has been detected, decision box 1003, the relays areslowly cycled and the CPU 401 is HALTed and RESET, step 1005. Cycling ofthe relays, which causes the flashing of lights, etc., is indicative ofa problem in the security system 300; other problem indicators may beused. If a normal start has occurred (e.g., not a trap, decision box1003), step 1007 is executed. In step 1007, Wait states are set, theCPU's 401 stack pointer is set, RAM refresh is disabled, and DMA (directmemory access) requests are disabled. The substeps of step 1007 areexecuted to initialize the processor so that the SETUP procedure mayexecute.

After step 1007 a call is made to the SETUP procedure, step 1009. TheSETUP procedure is described below in conjunction with FIG. 10(b).

After the SETUP procedure has been executed, step 1011 is executed. Step1011 contains the substeps of setting up Bank switching, clearing theRAM 405, initializing the RAM 405 from contents of the EPROM 403, andsetting up a "C" Memory Allocator.

Following step 1011 the main program is invoked, step 1013. The mainprogram is discussed below in conjunction with FIG. 10(c).

FIG. 10(b) is a flow chart showing the operation of the SETUP procedure.The SETUP procedure is invoked from the START up procedure (FIG. 10(a)).The first step 1017 of the SETUP procedure is to initialize the CPU 401and to initialize any support chips, e.g., the modem 407. Next the RAM405 is tested, decision box 1019. If the RAM 405 is determined to befaulty, an error condition is entered, e.g., the relays are constantlycycled, step 1021. If the test indicates that the RAM 405 is not faulty,the SETUP procedure is completed and control is returned to the callingprogram, step 1023.

FIG. 10(c) is a flowchart showing the operation of the MAIN program ofthe security system software. The entry point to the main program 1025is called from the START up program. Steps 1027 through 1039 areinitialization steps and steps 1041 through 1053 represent an infiniteloop 1055. The first step of the initialization is step 1027, togglingthe watchdog timer 419. Next all relays are opened, thereby disablingthe devices connected to the relays, and the cellular telephone handset211 is disabled, step 1029. Next a one second wait state is entered,step 1031, and the watchdog timer is again toggled, step 1033. Step 1033is followed by a step in which various communications are enabled, step1035. Both data and audio communication between the handset keypad 211band the cellular telephone transceiver 213 are enabled.

Next, the GETNAM procedure is called, 1037, to obtain the NAM and theserial number of the cellular telephone. The final step of theinitialization is to initialize all global variables, step 1039, e.g.,the ARMED global variable is initialized to 0, i.e., the "UNARMED"state.

Following the initialization, the main program enters an infinite loop,1055. The first step of the loop 1055 is to again ensure that thehandset keypad 211 is connected to the transceiver unit 213, step 1041.Next, the watchdog timer 419 is toggled, step 1043, followed by a callto the READCHARS procedure (described below in conjunction with FIG.10(e)) to obtain a code number from the handset keypad 211b. The codenumber corresponds to any commands that have been entered on the handsetkeypad 211b. A code return of 0 signifies that no complete code had beenentered, a code of 1 means that the ARM command had been entered, a codeof 2 means that the UNARM command had been entered, and any other code(3 through 8) means that an EMERGENCY command had been entered.

In the alternative embodiment for voice recognition of spoken commands,a procedure called VOICEMSG is called to poll the voice recognitioncircuitry to determine whether a command to the security system has beenspoken through the handset microphone 211b. During normal communicationsmode a direct link between the handset 211 and the transceiver unit 213is established through the switching network 417. The voice recognitioncircuitry, e.g., the analog-to-digital converter 415 and the DSP 421, istapped into the audio lines of this connection. The DSP 421 (or in theembodiment not having a DSP, the CPU 401) is programnmed to recognizecertain verbally spoken commands. When a command has been recognized, itis saved in a queue in the RAM 405. When the VOICEMSG procedure pollsthe voice recognition circuitry for a verbally spoken command, if one ormore exists in the queue, the code from the front of the queue isreturned, otherwise a NULL command is returned from the VOICEMSGprocedure.

Next, the SETMODE procedure is called, step 1047 (the SETMODE procedureis discussed below in conjunction with FIG. 10(f)). The SETMODEprocedure sets the mode of the security system based on the codereturned by the READCHARS command in step 1045.

Next, the position of the vehicle is determined by calling the READGPSprocedure, step 1049, followed by a call to the STOREGPS procedure, step1051, for storing the position into the EPROM 403. The READGPS procedureand the STOREGPS procedure are discussed below in conjunction with FIGS.10(g) and 10(h), respectively.

The final step of the infinite loop 1055, step 1053, is a call to theHANDLE-ARMED procedure which, among other things, takes actionsdepending on the ARMED state and any events, such as protection zoneinvasion. Following the return from the HANDLE-ARMED procedure, the looprepeats at step 1041.

FIG. 10(d) is a flowchart showing the operation of the GETNAM procedure.The NAM of a cellular telephone is a data structure which includes, butis not limited to, the serial number of the telephone, the password ofthe telephone, a system identification number. The NAM is stored in thehandset 211.

The entry point to the GETNAM procedure, box 1057, is called from themain program in step 1037. The first step of the GETNAM procedure is topoll the handset 211 for the NAM information, step 1059. Next, thehandset 211 is polled for the handset serial number, step 1061. Finally,control is returned to the calling procedure, step 1063.

In the embodiment of the control and communications unit 201' shown inFIG. 5, the polling of the handset is executed by the telephone microcontroller 507, and the call to the GETNAM procedure from the CPU 401'causes the request for the NAM and the serial number to be placed on themicro controller bus 501.

FIG. 10(e) is a flowchart showing the operation of the READCHARSprocedure. The entry point to the READCHARS procedure, box 1065, iscalled from the main program at step 1045. The READCHARS procedureoperates on the principle of adding new characters to a string ofalready entered characters. When a new character is added the string isparsed to determine whether a complete command has been entered, andwhen a complete command has been entered its number is returned.

The first step of the READCHARS procedure is to determine if a newcharacter has been entered on the serial bus connecting the handset 211and the transceiver unit 213, step 1067. If no new character has beenentered, the procedure returns to the calling program, step 1069. If acharacter has been entered, the character is obtained from the serialbus and amended to the string of previously entered characters, step1071. The next step is to parse the string, step 1073.

If a complete command has not yet been assembled, as determined bydecision box 1075, the procedure returns to the calling program, step1077. However, if a complete command has been assembled, it isdetermined if that command is an "UPDATE DISPLAY" command, decision box1079. If it was not an "UPDATE DISPLAY" command, control is returned tothe calling procedure, step 1081. Otherwise, it is determined if thecommand was a system command, step 1083. If the command was not a systemcommand, then control is returned directly to the calling procedure,step 1085; otherwise, the code number of the command is returned to thecalling procedure, step 1087.

In the embodiment of the control and communications unit 201', theREADCHARS procedure call executed on the CPU 401' causes a request forthe telephone micro controller 507 to be placed onto the bus 501. Thetelephone micro controller 507 continuously monitors the communicationbetween the handset 211 and the transceiver unit 213. Any charactersentered onto the serial connection between the handset 211 and thetransceiver unit 213 are placed in a queue. The request for a characterfrom the CPU 401' either causes the telephone micro controller 507 toplace the character at the front of the queue onto the micro controllerbus 501, or, if the queue is empty, causes the telephone microcontroller 507 to place a NULL character onto the micro controller bus501.

FIG. 10(f) is a flowchart showing the operation of the SETMODEprocedure. The entry point of the SETMODE procedure, box 1089, is calledfrom the MAIN program at step 1047. The SETMODE procedure branches to asequence of steps which correspond to the display code returned from theREADCHARS procedure, branch selector box 1091. If a display code of 0was returned, branch 1093, which corresponds to a "NO CODE" enteredcondition, then the procedure returns directly to the MAIN program, step1095.

If a display code of 1 was returned from the READCHARS procedure, whichcorresponds to an "ARM" command, then step 1099 is executed. Step 1099includes the substeps of turning on the buzzer 255, display the text"ARMED" on the handset display 211a, reset the global variable TIMER,and set the global variable ARMED to 1. Then, control is returned to themain program, step 1201.

If a display code of 2 was returned from the READCHARS procedure, whichcorresponds to an UNARM command, branch 1203 is selected, the first stepof which is step 1205. Step 1205 includes the substeps of clearing allrelays, displaying the text "UNARMED" on the display 211a, and settingthe state of the ARMED global variable to 0. Control is returned to themain program, step 1207.

If a display code of 3 through 8, which corresponds to the EMERGENCYcommand, was returned from the READCHARS procedure, branch 1209 isselected. The first step of branch 1209 is step 1211, which includes thesubcommands of displaying an acknowledgment on the display 211a, settingthe state of the ARMED global variable to 4, and setting the ALARMglobal variable to the Emergency code, following which control isreturned to the calling program.

FIG. 10(g) is a flowchart showing the operation of the READGPSprocedure. The entry point of the READGPS procedure, box 1215, is calledfrom the main program in step 1049. The READGPS procedure adds newcharacters from the bus connecting the GPS receiver 219 with the CPU 401to a string and determines if that string represents a complete GPScommand. The first step is to determine if a character is available ofthe GPS bus, step 1217. If there is no character available on the GPSbus, the READGPS procedure returns to the main program, step 1219.

If a character is available, that character is obtained from the GPSbus, step 1221, and is concatenated with the previously obtainedcharacters. Then, the resulting string is parsed, step 1223, and it isdetermined whether the string represents a complete GPS command, step1225. If a complete command has not been assembled in the string,control is returned to the main program, step 1227. However, if acomplete command has been assembled, the command is processed and globalvariables relating to the GPS information are set, e.g., longitude andlatitude, step 1229. Finally, a message code is returned, step 1231,e.g., the latitude, longitude, altitude, and GPS status (whether or nota valid position has been received from the GPS).

FIG. 10(h) is a flowchart showing the operation of the STOREGPSprocedure. The entry point of the STOREGPS procedure, box 1233, iscalled from the main program, at step 1051. The STOREGPS procedurestores a valid GPS Position once a minute. Thus, the first step is todetermine if a minute has passed since the last time a GPS position wasstored, decision box 1235. If a minute has not yet passed, control isreturned to the main program, step 1237. If a minute has passed, first,the TIMER is reset, step 1239, then, it is determined if the GPSposition is valid, step 1241. This determination is based on the GPSstatus returned from the READGPS procedure. If the GPS position is notvalid, control is returned to the main program, step 1243. Otherwise,the GPS position and the current time are stored in the EPROM 403, step1245. Finally, control is returned to the calling program, step 1247.

FIG. 10(i) through FIG. 10(k) are flowcharts showing the operation ofthe HANDLE-ARMED procedure. The entry point of the HANDLE-ARMEDprocedure, box 1249, is called from the main program at step 1053. TheHANDLE-ARMED procedure has one branch for each mode of operation of thesecurity system 300. Thus, there is a branch for UNARMED, one forARMING, one for ARMED, one for VIOLATION AUDIT, and one for EMERGENCY.The first step is to select a branch depending on the value of theglobal variable ARMED, step 1251. If ARMED has the value 0,corresponding to the UNARMED mode, the branch beginning with step 1253is selected; if ARMED has the value 1, corresponding to the ARMING mode,the branch beginning with step 1259 is selected; if ARMED has the value2, corresponding to the mode ARMED, the branch beginning with step 1271is selected; if ARMED has the value 3, corresponding to the modeVIOLATION AUDIT, the branch beginning with step 1275 is selected; and ifARMED has the value 4, corresponding to the EMERGENCY mode, the branchbeginning with the step 1277 is selected.

The UNARMED branch has an entry point at step 1253. The first step ofthe UNARMED branch is to open all relays, step 1255, followed byreturning control to the main program, step 1257.

The ARMING branch has its entry point at step 1259, followed by the stepof toggling a global variable named BUZZER. The BUZZER global variableis used to control whether the buzzer 255 is sounded or not. The nextstep is to determine whether the preset time for ARMING mode (e.g., 30seconds) has passed, decision box 1263. In the SETMODE procedure, atstep 1099, the TIMER global variable is reset. The current time iscompared to the contents of the TIMER global variable to determine theamount of elapsed time since the ARMING mode was entered. If less thanthe preset time period has elapsed, control is returned to the mainprogram, step 1265. Otherwise, the ARMED global variable is set to 2,thereby changing the mode from ARMING (state 1) to ARMED (state 2), allrelays are opened, and the cellular telephone is turned off, step 1267.The ARMING branch ends by returning control to the main program, step1269.

The ARMED branch has its entry point at step 1271. The body of the ARMEDbranch is shown in the flow chart of FIG. 10(j), following box 1279. Thefirst step, step 1281, is to determine if any intrusion zones have beenviolated. If no intrusion zones have been violated, all relays areopened, step 1283, which is followed by a return of control to the mainprogram, step 1285.

If it is determined that an intrusion zone has been violated, it is nextdetermined whether that intrusion zone is a type of violation whichwould lead the system to enter into the AUDIT mode, step 1287. Anexample of such a violation is the opening of a door (The securitysystem 300 may be programmed so that the triggering of any intrusiondetection device causes the security system 300 to enter into to AUDITmode). If it is determined that AUDIT mode should be entered, step 1289is executed. Step 1289 includes the substeps of setting the ARMED globalvariable to 3, the state equivalent to AUDIT mode, resetting the TIMERglobal variable, enabling power to the GPS receiver 219, turning on theBUZZER and turning of the cellular telephone transceiver. Next, controlis returned to the main program, step 1291.

If it is determined that the violation was not the type of violationwhich should lead the system to enter AUDIT mode, e.g., the GPS positionhas changed, then, first, all relays are opened, step 1293. Next, a callis made to the REPORT-POSITION procedure, step 1295. REPORT-POSITION isdescribed in conjunction with FIG. 10(l). REPORT-POSITION is called toestablish contact with the central monitoring station 103, to report thevehicle's position to the central monitoring station 103, and to acceptand process any commands sent from the central monitoring station 103 tothe vehicle 200. The call to the REPORT-POSITION procedure is repeateduntil the call has been acknowledged by the central monitoring station103, step 1297. When the call REPORT-POSITION procedure returns with acall acknowledged status, the alarms are cleared, and the ARMED globalvariable is set to 1, the ARMING mode, step 1299. Finally, the ARMEDbranch returns control to the main program, step 1301.

The VIOLATION AUDIT branch commences at entry point 1275. The VIOLATIONAUDIT branch is invoked when a particular kind of invasion zoneviolation has occurred, e.g., the opening of a door. During theVIOLATION AUDIT mode, the occupant of the vehicle is given apredetermined amount of time to disarm the system. Failure to disarm thesystem within that period of time triggers a call to the centralmonitoring station 103.

The first step of the VIOLATION AUDIT branch is to determine whethermore time than the allowed time for disarming has elapsed, step 1303. Ifless than the allowed time has elapsed, control is returned to the mainprogram, step 1305.

If the allowed time has expired, first, all relays are opened, step1307. Next, a call is made to the REPORT-POSITION procedure, step 1309.REPORT-POSITION is described in conjunction with FIG. 10(l).REPORT-POSITION is called to establish contact with the centralmonitoring station 103, to report the vehicle's position to the centralmonitoring station 103, and to accept and process any commands sent fromthe central monitoring station 103 to the vehicle 200. The call to theREPORT-POSITION procedure is repeated until the call has beenacknowledged by the central monitoring station 103, step 1311. When thecall REPORT-POSITION procedure returns with a call acknowledged status,the alarms are cleared, and the ARMED global variable is set to 1, theARMING mode, step 1313. Finally, the VIOLATION AUDIT branch returnscontrol to the main program, step 1301.

The EMERGENCY branch commences with the entry point 1277. The body ofthe EMERGENCY branch is shown in the flow chart of FIG. 10(k) followingbox 1319.

The first step of the EMERGENCY branch is to open all relays, step 1321.Next a call is made to the REPORT-POSITION procedure, step 1323. Thiscall is repeated until the central monitoring station 103 acknowledgesthe call, step 1325.

Next, the cellular telephone transceiver 213 and the BUZZER are turnedon, step 1327. Step 1327 is followed by a wait state period for waitingfor the telephone to come on, step 1329. After the wait period 1327 allrelays are opened, step 1331. Next, an acknowledgment is displayed onthe handset display 211a, step 1333. Next, all alarms are cleared andthe ARMED global variable is set to 0, corresponding to the UNARMEDmode, step 1335. Finally, control is returned to the main program, step1337.

FIG. 10(l) is a flowchart showing the operation of the REPORT-POSITIONprocedure. The entry point 1339 to the REPORT-POSITION procedure iscalled from the HANDLE-ARMED procedure at steps 1309, 1295, and 1323.The first step of the REPORT-POSITION procedure is to call the CALLHOMEprocedure, step 1341, to establish modem communication with the centralmonitoring station 103. The CALLHOME procedure is described below inconjunction with FIG. 10(m).

The next step is to request the GPS position information stored by theSTOREGPS procedure and to initialize all local variables, step 1343.

Step 1343 is followed the step of determining whether the cellulartelephone transceiver 213 is on-line, step 1345. If the transceiver 213is not on-line, the modem 407 is turned off, the transceiver 213 isreset, and all relays are opened, step 1347, and control is returned tothe calling procedure, step 1349.

If the transceiver is on-line, as determined in step 1345, the watchdogtimer is toggled, step 1351. Next, if the system has been programmed toflash the headlights 127 through 127'", which is determined in decisionbox 1353, then the lights are toggled, step 1355.

Next the transceiver 213 status is obtained, step 1357. If a transceiverstatus is returned indicating that there is no cellular telephoneservice, that is an indication that there may be a problem with thecellular antenna 215. Therefore, upon receiving a "no service" status,the CPU 401, via one of the relay drivers, sends a signal to the antennarelay 216 to switch to the backup cellular antenna 217.

Step 1357 is followed by calling the READGPS procedure, 1359, to obtainthe current position of the vehicle, step 1359. If a complete and validGPS message was returned from the READGPS procedure, decision box 1361,then the position is sent via the modem 407 to the central monitoringstation 103, step 1363.

Next a call is made to the READMODEM procedure, step 1365, to determineif the central monitoring station has communicated any messages, step1365. If no message has been received on the modem 407, control istransferred back to step 1345. Otherwise, an acknowledgment is sent overthe modem 407, step 1369, and a call is made to the DOMSG procedure,step 1371, to carry out any commands sent by the central monitoringstation.

FIG. 10(m) is a flowchart showing the operation of the CALLHOMEprocedure. The entry point of the CALLHOME procedure, step 1373, iscalled from the REPORT-POSITION procedure at step 1341. The first stepof the CALLHOME procedure is turn off the cellular telephone handset211, pause for four seconds, and disable the serial bus connecting thehandset 211 to the transceiver unit 213, step 1375.

Next, the cellular telephone transceiver 213 is reset, step 1377, whichis followed by placing the transceiver 213 in DIAL mode, step 1379.Next, the dial command is sent to the transceiver 213, step 1381, andthe determination is made as to whether the transceiver 213 is placingthe call, decision box 1383. If the transceiver 213 is not placing thecall, control is transferred back to step 1377 and the process of tryingto place the call is repeated.

If the transceiver is making the call, as determined in decision box1383, the software waits for the modem handshake to complete 1385. Whenthe handshake has completed, it is determined whether a valid handshakewas achieved, decision box 1387. If a valid handshake has not beenachieved, control is transferred back to step 1377, and the callingprocess is repeated. Otherwise, control is returned to the callingprogram, step 1389.

FIG. 10(n) is a flowchart showing the operation of the READMODEMprocedure. The entry point of the READMODEM procedure, box 1391, iscalled from the REPORT-POSITION procedure at step 1365. The READMODEMprocedure assembles a command string by appending a character obtainedfrom the modem 407 to a string of previously obtained characters.

The first step of the READMODEM procedure is to determine if there is acharacter available from the modem 407, decision box 1393. If nocharacter is available, the procedure returns to calling procedure, step1395.

If the character is available, it is obtained from the modem 407,appended to the previously received characters, step 1397. The resultingstring is then parsed, step 1399. If the resulting string is not acomplete command, decision box 1401, then the procedure returns controlto the calling procedure 1403. Otherwise, global variables correspondingto the message are set, step 1405. Global variables associated with themodem 407 include message id, which is the code corresponding to therequested command. Finally, the message code is returned to the callingprogram, step 1407.

FIG. 10(o) is a flowchart showing the operation of the DOMSG procedure.The entry point of the DOMSG procedure, box 1215, is called from theREPORT-POSITION procedure at step 1371. The DOMSG procedure has a branchfor each valid command. The first step of the DOMSG procedure is tobranch to the branch corresponding to the particular command beingprocessed, step 1411.

The first branch show is the branch corresponding to the "Flash lights"message, branch 1413. The first step of the FLASH LIGHTS branch is toset the Flash Lights flag global variable, step 1415, after whichcontrol is returned to the calling program, step 1425.

The second branch is the branch corresponding to the "Unlock Doors"message, 1417. In this branch the doors are unlocked, step 1419.

The third branch corresponds to an acknowledgment from the centralmonitoring station that an alarm condition has been received, step 1421.This branch contains the steps of resetting the alarm flags andreturning to normal communication mode, step 1423. Finally, control isreturned to the main program, step 1425.

The DOMSG procedure includes branches for any valid command from thecentral monitoring station 103. The flow chart of FIG. 10(o) isexemplary in nature. A person skilled in the art will realize manyadditional commands, some of which have been described above, e.g.,shutting of the ignition, and sounding the horn.

The EPROM 521 is programmable to store several features of a particularsecurity system 300. The following is a list of programmable features:

For each protection zone:

whether the zone is active or inactive

whether a violation of the protection zone causes a transition to auditmode or alarm mode

for an audit zone, the length of the audit time

whether a violation of the protection zone causes a call to the centralmonitoring station

whether a violation of the protection zone causes the sounding of asiren

any of the codes for commands, e.g.:

the code for arming the system the code for disarming the system

the panic code

the code for requesting dispatch of police, wrecker, ambulance etc.

whether the system automatically enters ARMED normal triggering mode

whether the system automatically enters ARMED carjacking triggering mode

a position range, e.g., a GPS coordinate range, for which an excursionby the vehicle beyond the range would cause an alarm condition

disable/enable of the limited range feature

the length of time which the siren is sounded at any time

These features are programmed through a menuing feature of the handset211. FIG. 11 illustrates the handset 211 during programming mode. Duringprogramming mode, which is entered by entering a code on the keypad211b, several levels of menus are displayed on the display 211a. In FIG.11(a) programming mode has been entered and the text "PROGRAM ZONES"appears on the display 211a.

At any level pressing the SEND key 1101 causes a transition to the nextlower level menu, pressing the END key 1103 causes a transition to thenext higher level menu, and pressing any other key causes a transitionto the next menu item at the given level. Pressing the END key 1103 atthe highest level causes an exit from the programming mode. Pressing anykey, other than the SEND key 1101 or the END key from the last menu itemin a given level causes a transition to the first menu item at the samelevel.

The highest level menu contains menu items "ZONES", "CODES", "ARMTIMES", "GPS RANGE", and "SIREN". Pressing the SEND key at the "ZONES"menu enters a list of the protection zones. For each protection zone, ifthe SEND key 1101 is pressed, the programmable features are displayed asmenu items, e.g., active/inactive, audit/alarm, audit time, call/don'tcall, and siren/no siren. For items which have two alternatives (e.g.,active/inactive), the current setting is displayed and pressing the SENDkey 1101 causes the item to toggle to the alternative setting. For itemswhich require a numerical input (e.g., audit time) the numerical keysare used to enter the numerical value for the feature, and the SEND key1101 causes a transition to the next menu item.

FIG. 11(b) shows the handset 211 in the menu for a first protectionzone. A message of "ZONE 1 INACTIVE" is displayed on the display 211a.If the user presses the SEND key 1101, the zone 1 would be activated and"ZONE 1 ACTIVE" would be displayed.

FIG. 11(c) shows the handset 211 in the menu for setting the permittedrange for the vehicle 200. The display message of "RANGE LAT SW"indicates to the user to enter the latitude of the southwest corner of arange rectangle. Upon seeing this prompt text, the user is expected toenter, using the keys of keypad 211b, a number corresponding to the GPSposition latitude of the southwest corner of the permitted range. Thefollowing menu item would be the longitude of the southwest corner;followed by menu items for the latitude and longitude of the northeastcorner of the permitted range.

The portable computer 249 is programmed with mapping software. Themapping software resident on the portable computer 249 is operable topoll the communications and control unit 201 for the current positiondata. The portable computer 249 provides the operator of the vehiclewith a display showing a map such as the maps shown in FIGS. 8(a)through 8(i). The user of the portable computer may request the softwareresident thereon to display routes between the current location and adesired location. To direct the software resident on the portablecomputer 249 to compute a route to a desired location the user positionsa cursor on the desired location on the map displayed or enters theaddress using the keyboard of the portable computer.

The security system 300 may be placed in a "GPS mode" by entering thecommand "GPS" on the handset keypad 211. In GPS mode, the CPU 401displays information stored by the STOREGPS procedure (discussed abovein conjunction with FIGS. 10(c) and 10(h)) on the handset display 211a.

In an alternative embodiment, the security system 300 is equipped with aPCMCIA connector linked to the communications and control unit 201. ThePCMCIA connector may preferably be located on the dashboard of thevehicle 200. The PCMCIA connector is a standard universal connector forreceiving add-on cards to a computer or computerized unit. In thesecurity system 300 an electronic map card, containing map information,may be inserted into the PCMCIA connector. The map information containedon the electronic map card, contains correlations between GPS positionsand street names.

In a vehicle 200 located in the area covered by a particular electronicmap card, entering the security system 300 into GPS mode causes thedisplay of the street name and street address near the location of thevehicle 200 onto the handset display 211a.

The communications and control unit 201 is further operable to controldevices located in other vehicles or in stationary objects such as in ahome. Taking the example of controlling devices in a home as an example,a communications and control unit 201 is located in a persons home. Therelay drivers 513a and 513b are then connected to relays for controllingappliances in the home, e.g., lights, garage doors, gates, airconditioning, heating and kitchen appliances. The cellular telephonetransceiver unit is replaced by a telephone network connection.

An occupant of a vehicle 200 can use the handset 211 to send a controlcommand to the central monitoring station 103. A command available is to"transfer call" to a specified telephone number, which in this case isthe occupant's home. The control and communications unit in theoccupant's home answers the transferred call. By way of password codes,the authorization to communicate with the occupant's home is verified.

The occupant of the vehicle 200 can then send commands to the controland communications unit in the occupant's home from the handset 211 inthe occupant's vehicle.

The present invention has been described in connection with certainpreferred embodiments. These preferred embodiments are exemplary ofcertain modes of practicing the invention. A person skilled in the artwill realize many alternatives to specific examples of equipmentdescribed herein. For example, where certain functionality is describedas implemented in software, a person skilled in the art will realizethat the same functionality may be implemented in hardware and infirmware; where a serial communication interface is used, a paralleldata interface may be used; where a graphics user interface is used, aline oriented interface may also be used; where a relational database isused, a network or hierarchical database may also be used; where acentral processing unit of a particular manufacture is used, any othercentral processing unit may be used; and a particular type of intrusiondetection device is used, any other intrusion detection device may beused. Therefore, while the invention has been described in connectionwith certain preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit thescope of the invention to the particular forms set forth, but, on thecontrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, andequivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A programmable vehicle monitoring and security system,comprising:an intrusion detection device for signaling an unauthorizedaccess to a vehicle; a location determination unit for identifying thegeographical location of the vehicle; a first transmitter coupled to theintrusion detection device and to the location determination unit fortransmitting an intrusion detection signal and the location of thevehicle; a receiving unit for receiving control instructions responsiveto the transmission of the intrusion detection signal; a control unitcoupled to the receiving unit for activating vehicle controls inaccordance with the received control instructions; and a timer coupledto the control unit for periodically resetting the control unit whencontrol instructions have not been received within a predeterminedperiod of time.
 2. The programmable vehicle monitoring and securitysystem of claim 1, further comprising a second transmitter selectivelycoupled to the first transmitter for transmitting the intrusiondetection signal in the event the first transmitter is disabled.
 3. Theprogrammable vehicle monitoring and security system of claim 2, furthercomprising a relay for selectively coupling the first transmitter to thesecond transmitter.
 4. The programmable vehicle monitoring and securitysystem of claim 1, wherein the receiving unit comprises receptioncircuitry for receiving the control instructions and further comprisesalternative circuitry selectively coupled to the reception circuitry foralternatively receiving the control instructions in the event thereception circuitry is disabled.
 5. The programmable vehicle monitoringand security system of claim 1, wherein the receiving unit is a pager.6. The programmable vehicle monitoring and security system of claim 5,wherein the first transmitter is a telephone.
 7. The programmablevehicle monitoring and security system of claim 1, further comprising afuel line control valve coupled to the control unit, wherein the controlvalve is actuated responsive to the received control instructions. 8.The programmable vehicle monitoring and security system of claim 1,further comprising a n interface module which couples the control unitto the receiving unit, the module enabling the control unit to beinterchangeably coupled with a plurality of different receiving units.9. The programmable vehicle monitoring and security system of claim 1,further comprising a status buffer coupled to the control unit forstoring status of the vehicle during times in which the transmission bythe first transmitter is disabled.
 10. A system for monitoring aplurality of vehicles, the system comprising:a location determinationunit in each of the vehicles for identifying the geographical locationof the vehicle; a first transmitter coupled to the locationdetermination unit in each of the vehicles for transmitting the locationof each of the vehicles; a pager unit in each of the vehicles forreceiving control instructions, wherein each of the pager units can besimultaneously contacted by transmitting a single communication code tothe pager units; and a control unit coupled to the receiving unit ineach of the vehicles for activating vehicle controls in accordance withthe received control instructions.
 11. The system for monitoring aplurality of vehicles of claim 10, further comprising a timer coupled tothe control unit in each vehicle for periodically resetting the controlunit when control instructions have not been received within apredetermined period of time.
 12. A vehicle communication systemcomprising:a first vehicle; a pager connected to the first vehicle forreceiving transmitted control instructions; a control unit coupled tothe pager for activating vehicle controls in accordance with thereceived control instructions; an actuator coupled to the control unitwhich effects vehicle operation responsive to the received controlinstructions; and a second vehicle, the second vehicle furthercomprising a pager, wherein the pagers of both the first and secondvehicles share the same phone number.
 13. A vehicle communication systemcomprising:a first vehicle; a pager connected to the first vehicle forreceiving transmitted control instructions; a control unit coupled tothe pager for activating vehicle controls in accordance with thereceived control instructions; an actuator coupled to the control unitwhich effects vehicle operation responsive to the received controlinstructions; and a timer coupled to the first vehicle control unit forperiodically resetting the control unit when control instructions havenot been received within a predetermined period of time.
 14. A methodfor securing a vehicle using a programmable vehicle monitoring system,the method comprising:initializing a timing sequence within the vehiclemonitor; detecting an unauthorized intrusion of said vehicle when apredetermined protection zone has been violated; generating a signalwhen such a vehicle intrusion occurs; identifying the position of thevehicle at the time when an unauthorized intrusion is signaled;notifying a central monitoring station of the detected intrusion and thelocation of the vehicle; receiving instructions from the centralmonitoring station as to the execution of a control protocol in responseto the signal; and resetting the timing sequence if instructions are notreceived by the monitoring system within a predetermined period of time.15. A system for securing a vehicle using a programmable vehiclemonitoring system, the system comprising:means for initializing a timingsequence within the vehicle monitoring system; means for detecting anunauthorized intrusion of the vehicle when a predetermined protectionzone has been violated; means for generating a signal when such avehicle intrusion occurs; means for identifying the position of thevehicle at the time when an unauthorized intrusion is signaled; meansfor notifying a central monitoring station of the detected intrusion andthe location of the vehicle; means for receiving instructions from thecentral monitoring station as to the execution of a control protocol inresponse to the signaled intrusion; and means for resetting the timingsequence if instructions are not received by the monitoring systemwithin a predetermined period of time.